Novak

Djokovic has scaled down his playing time considerably over recent seasons, tailoring his schedule to focus on the majors.

Moving clear of Australia’s Margaret Court in terms of Grand Slam titles is the biggest ambition left in his mind.

His body is not, however, complying.

Djokovic might have defied logic to reach the semi-finals of all four majors this year, but a straight-set defeat by 22-year-old Carlos Alcaraz at Flushing Meadows was another example of his waning physical powers.

Alcaraz and 24-year-old Jannik Sinner have cleaned up the past seven major titles between them, having taken their games to a far superior level than anybody else on the ATP Tour.

“I can do only as much as I can do,” Djokovic said.

“It will be very difficult for me in the future to overcome the hurdle of Sinner and Alcaraz in best-of-fives at Grand Slams.

“I think I have a better chance in best-of-three, but best-of-five, it’s tough.

“I’m not giving up on Grand Slams in that regard. I’m going to continue fighting and trying to get to the finals and fight for another trophy at least.”

World number two Carlos Alcaraz made his youth count as he beat 38-year-old Novak Djokovic to reach another US Open final.

Spain’s Alcaraz, 22, was tested by 24-time major champion Djokovic but had enough quality and energy to win 6-4 7-6 (7-4) 6-2 in Friday’s first men’s semi-final.

The margins were fine in the first two sets, with Alcaraz rarely near his free-flowing best, but the gap widened as Serbia’s Djokovic faded physically early in the third.

Two weary double faults from Djokovic hurried his opponent into a 3-1 lead and another teed up a first match point for Alcaraz – on which Djokovic batted a volley wide.

Seventh seed Djokovic hung over the net as he waited to congratulate Alcaraz, before waving to all corners of Arthur Ashe Stadium as he departed.

Alcaraz, the 2022 champion, will play either Italian top seed Jannik Sinner and Canadian 25th seed Felix Auger-Aliassime in Sunday’s final.

“Being in the final again feels amazing – it means a lot to me,” said Alcaraz.

“It wasn’t the best level of the tournament for me but I kept a cool head from the beginning and the last point.”

Before the match, British number two Norrie said he was “ready for anything” from seventh seed Djokovic – including seeing his opponent struggle with fitness issues before regaining his level.

However, the world number 35 was still not able to drag Djokovic into gruelling physical exchanges as he hoped.

Norrie briefly threatened to cause a shock when he moved a break up early in the third set.

But Djokovic instantly hit back – helped by his opponent hitting a double fault on break point – before regaining control with a precise serving game which Norrie largely failed to trouble.

Djokovic became the oldest man to reach US Open fourth round since Jimmy Connors, who was also aged 38, in 1991.

“I’m still trying to find my groove. Today I played the best I have so far in the tournament,” Djokovic said.

On his fitness, he added: “You have some ups and downs but you don’t want to reveal too much to your rivals. I’m as young and as strong as ever.”

“The chances are getting better as the years ago on – although not by much,” said Norrie, who is ranked 35th in the world.

“The level he brings and the competitiveness he brings is crazy. Every time I’ve played him he changes tactics and makes it difficult.

“I’m ready for anything – him playing unreal, or him not playing great and stopping the match for something, then playing good.”

Djokovic looked unsteady on his feet in humid conditions during his first-round win over Learner Tien and needed treatment for a blister on his toe.

Seventh seed Djokovic had not played for six weeks before the US Open and showed more signs of rustiness on Wednesday, dropping a set against American qualifier Zachary Svajda.

It is always dangerous to suggest Djokovic looks vulnerable, and Norrie is certainly wary.

But Norrie’s brand of tennis – trying to make things physical and drag Djokovic into an energy-sapping scrap – could be key if the former world number eight is to snap his losing streak against the Serb great.

“”I will have to beat him with physicality,” said Norrie, who showed his own survival instincts in a four-set battle against Argentina’s Francisco Comesana on Wednesday.

“I did see the blister but he’s the king of adversity. He fights and pushes through it.

“I’m not going to be a servebot and serve him off the court.”

Novak Djokovic says he is “trying to solve the riddle” and find his best form after fighting back from a set down to beat American qualifier Zachary Svajda in the US Open second round.

The 24-time Grand Slam champion appeared subdued in the early stages of the match before powering through to a 6-7 (5-7) 6-3 6-3 6-1 win.

“I’m not pleased with my level of tennis, but, you know, you have days like this where you’re not playing at your best, but you just kind of find a way,” Djokovic said.

“I’m just trying to solve the riddle once I’m on the court.”

The 38-year-old said he was “a bit with frustrated with his game” as he continues his bid for a standalone record 25th major trophy.

“It’s not like I’m not finding joy on the court competing. I enjoy competing, but I don’t enjoy not playing well,” the Serb said.

“That’s why I put extra pressure on myself and my team to be better the next day, the next match,” he said.

“It’s not a motivation thing. I kind of go through stuff internally. You don’t want to know the details of what I’m going through and telling myself.”

Djokovic has already set another record in New York in reaching the third round at a major for the 75th time – one more than Roger Federer’s tally.

He will face Britain’s Cameron Norrie – who he has beaten at the French Open and Wimbledon this year – in the third round.

Djokovic, who hasn’t won a Grand Slam title in two years, was far from his best against Learner Tien in the opening round at Flushing Meadows.

Novak Djokovic delivered a lesson in Grand Slam tenacity to Learner Tien in the first round of the US Open, as he battled past the American teenager 6-1, 7-6(3), 6-2 and launched his latest quest for a record 25th major title.

Competing in his first singles match since reaching the Wimbledon semifinals last month, and swapping the whites for a sleek all-black outfit, the 38-year-old Serb fought through physical issues on Sunday to secure his 80th win at Arthur Ashe Stadium.

Victory also meant Djokovic became the first player since the sport turned professional in 1968 to win 75 straight opening-round matches at the Grand Slams, with 55 of those wins coming in straight sets.

“It was a strange kind of match,” said Djokovic, who looked to be struggling with an injury midway through the match.

“The first set was 20 minutes, and then the second one was one hour and 20, quite the opposite sets we played. It was key for me to hold my nerve in the second set and clinch it in a tie-break.

“After that, I started feeling better. I can always do better, but it’s a great way to start this year’s campaign.”

The seventh seed shrugged off a time violation to consolidate an early break at the start of the contest, and a heated debate with the chair umpire shortly afterwards spurred him on to wrap up the opening set in double-quick time.

The 19-year-old Tien, on a near-impossible mission to hand Djokovic his first opening-round loss at a Grand Slam since the 2006 Australian Open, had his chances to draw level during a draining second set but crumbled in the tie-break.

After treatment for a right foot blister, Djokovic produced heavy groundstrokes from the baseline to break for a 3-1 lead in the third set. The four-time New York champion never looked back from there, booking a match-up with American Zachary Svajda.

“Good thing is that I have two days off. It’s slightly a concern. I don’t have an injury or anything. I just struggled to stay in long exchanges and recover after points,” Djokovic said.

Djokovic has not won a Grand Slam title since the 2023 US Open.

Sin-caraz here to stay

The level of shot-making and athleticism produced by Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz as their fast-developing rivalry continued in the men’s singles final was a joy to behold.

Except, perhaps, if you’re one of the guys trying to usurp them. The pair look set to maintain a stranglehold on the men’s game for the foreseeable future.

Certainly it will take something extraordinary for somebody to prevent Sinner or Alcaraz winning the US Open and sweeping the Grand Slams for the second successive season.

Swiatek joins all-court greats

Few would have picked Iga Swiatek pre-tournament as their women’s champion.

But the 24-year-old Pole has now won majors on all the surfaces after needing just 57 minutes to beat Amanda Anisimova in a scarcely believable 6-0 6-0 win.

Despite a difficult year where she dropped down the rankings, Swiatek has reasserted some of her authority after becoming the youngest woman since Serena Williams in 2002 to win Grand Slam titles on all three surfaces.

Time catching up with Djokovic

In truth, this has been apparent for a while. Novak Djokovic has not won a major title since the 2023 US Open and it was widely accepted Wimbledon represented his best chance of breaking the Sinner-Alcaraz duopoly.

The 38-year-old Serb continues to defy the ageing process but losing to Sinner in the semi-finals – ending his bid for a standalone record 25th major title – was another indication he doesn’t have enough in the tank to match the young guns.

Humans versus technology

The ongoing topic of humans being made redundant by technology spilled over into Wimbledon.

The All England Club replaced line judges with an electronic line-calling system, but had to apologise after the technology was turned off in error and missed three calls in one game.

Djokovic’s fitness has been and will always be extraordinary.

He is aiming to become the oldest Grand Slam singles champion in the Open era. Ken Rosewall was 37 when he won the last of his eight major titles, while the now-retired Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal were 36 when they last triumphed.

Djokovic has reached the semi-finals of all three Grand Slams this year. He has beaten players above him in the rankings, players who supposedly have the advantage of youth over him. And he looked superb at times during his Wimbledon run: the serve firing, the feet gliding into the corners.

But he has to contend with Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz, who will leave here having carved up the past seven Grand Slams between them, and will inevitably recover quicker than Djokovic.

“It’s tough for me to accept because I feel like when I’m fit, I can still play really good tennis. I’ve proven that this year,” Djokovic said.

“Playing best-of-five, particularly this year, has been a real struggle for me physically. The longer the tournament goes, the worse the condition gets.

“I have to play Sinner or Alcaraz. These guys are fit, young, sharp. I feel like I’m going into the match with the tank half-empty.

“It’s just not possible to win a match like that.”

Djokovic considered withdrawing but did not – and at 3-0 up on Sinner in the third set, with a point for a double break, he would have felt vindicated.

But Sinner increased his intensity, putting more power behind his shots, and Djokovic won just one more game from then on.

Defeat here for Djokovic calls into question whether he will ever achieve that elusive 25th major title.

Having ended Sinner’s last two Wimbledon runs – in the quarter-final last year and semis the year before – this time the shoe was on the other foot with the Italian in imperious form.

His game has often been compared to that of Djokovic and nowhere was that more evident than here as Sinner’s remarkable movement, consistency from the baseline and impeccable serving completely overawed the Serb.

The opening set passed by in a blur as Sinner served superbly with no sign of trouble from his elbow injury, picked up in the last 16 against Grigor Dimitrov.

Djokovic clung on in a tight game at 5-3, having gone down an early break, but Sinner was too good for him in the rallies – chasing down drop shots and anticipating his next move – and cruised to a one-set lead.

An early break of serve followed in the second set and a tense crowd, so used to seeing triumph after triumph from Djokovic, sensed he was in trouble.

Every point won off Sinner’s serve was celebrated enthusiastically, but they were few and far between as Djokovic created no break points in the opening two sets.

He called a medical timeout after losing the second, perhaps still struggling after a nasty slip at the end of his last-eight match against Flavio Cobolli.

Djokovic threatened a comeback in the third set, pouncing on a loose service game from Sinner to hand himself some momentum in the match.

But hopes of that were soon extinguished when Sinner rediscovered his serve to save double-break points then broke back when Djokovic’s drop shot fell back on his side of the net.

Sinner then showed incredible mental resilience by putting any potential threat of a repeat of the French Open final to bed when he broke again then impressively held serve on a five-game winning streak.

Djokovic did what he had to do and saved two match points on his own serve to force Sinner to serve it out, which he did at the second opportunity.

There was a huge round of applause for Djokovic as he left Centre Court and he raised a hand to all four corners – undoubtedly leaving many wondering how many more times he will be seen here.

BBC Sport’s Qasa Alom looks at the piece of advice Novak Djokovic gave world number one Jannik Sinner in 2022 and how it’s helped shape his game.

WATCH MORE: Is this the secret to Djokovic’s best ever serving performance at Wimbledon?

Watch live coverage from every court on BBC iPlayer.

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LONDON — At least Novak Djokovic could laugh about it afterward.

Yes, he took what he called a “nasty slip” on his second match point at Wimbledon on Wednesday. Yes, he slid into the splits and ended up face-down on the Centre Court grass. And, yes, those sorts of things aren’t ideal for a 38-year-old seeking an unprecedented 25th Grand Slam title.

Still, Djokovic dusted himself off and took the next two points, reaching the semifinals at the All England Club for a men’s-record 14th time with a 6-7 (6), 6-2, 7-5, 6-4 victory over No. 22 seed Flavio Cobolli to set up a showdown against No. 1 Jannik Sinner.

“Well, I finished the match,” Djokovic said with a chuckle. “It did come at an awkward moment, but somehow I managed to … close it out. Obviously, I’m going to visit this subject now with my physio and hopefully all will be well in two days.”

That’s when he will take on three-time major champion Sinner, who didn’t play like someone dealing with an injured right elbow while using terrific serving and his usual booming forehand to beat 10th-seeded Ben Shelton 7-6 (2), 6-4, 6-4.

“I look forward to that,” said Djokovic, who has lost his last four meetings with Sinner, including in the French Open semifinals last month. “That’s going to be a great matchup.”

Novak Djokovic lies on the grass court after slipping and falling while attempting to return a shot Wednesday.

(Kin Cheung / Associated Press)

Djokovic is 2-0 against Sinner at Wimbledon, eliminating him in the 2023 semifinals and 2022 quarterfinals.

Against Cobolli — like Sinner, a 23-year-old from Italy — the late-match tumble was not the only thing that was far from smooth for Djokovic. He served for the opening set at 5-3 but was broken at love. He later was a point from owning that set before first-time major quarterfinalist Cobolli came through.

Djokovic did stretches and breathing exercises at changeovers. He whacked his shoe with his racket after one miss in the fourth set. He seemed bothered at times by the bright sun above Centre Court.

He also showed off all of his considerable skills, accumulating 13 aces, holding in 19 of 21 service games, using a drop-shot-lob-drop-shot combination to take one point and limiting his unforced errors to 22 — half as many as Cobolli.

On Friday, Djokovic will try to reach his seventh consecutive final at the All England Club and get one win closer to equaling Roger Federer’s men’s mark of eight trophies there. The other men’s semifinal is two-time defending champion Carlos Alcaraz, who defeated Djokovic in the 2023 and 2024 finals, against Taylor Fritz.

Against Shelton at No. 1 Court, Sinner wore a white sleeve on his right arm with strips of tape visible underneath — one above the elbow, one below it — after he was hurt when he fell in the opening game of his fourth-round match against Grigor Dimitrov on Monday.

Sinner, the runner-up to Alcaraz at Roland-Garros, had an MRI exam on Tuesday and initially canceled a practice session that day but did hit some balls in a 20-minute session at an indoor court later.

“When you are in a match with a lot of tension, you try to not think about it,” Sinner said. “It has improved a lot from yesterday to today.”

He played as though nothing were amiss, winning 27 of 29 service points in the first set while accumulating a total of 15 winners to just one unforced error.

“You can’t go into a match thinking that the guy’s not going to be at 100%,” Shelton said. “His ball was coming off pretty big today, so I didn’t see any difference.”

Shelton stayed right with him until 2-all in the tiebreaker. That’s when Sinner surged in front, helped by a double fault and four consecutive forehand errors by Shelton.

At the outset of the second set, Shelton finally made some headway in a return game, getting a pair of break points at 15-40.

On one, Sinner produced a forehand winner. On the other, he pounded a 132 mph serve — his fastest of the match — and rushed forward, getting to deuce when Shelton’s backhand pass attempt found the net. That was followed by a 118 mph ace and a 125 mph service winner.

Those were Shelton’s only break chances.

A first for Swiatek

Iga Swiatek reached the Wimbledon semifinals for the first time with a 6-2, 7-5 victory over 19th-seeded Liudmila Samsonova that went from a stroll to a bit of a struggle in the late stages Wednesday.

“Even though I’m in the middle of the tournament, I already got goosebumps after this win,” said Swiatek, who will face unseeded Belinda Bencic on Thursday for a spot in the final. “I’m super happy and super proud of myself.”

Bencic beat No. 7 Mirra Andreeva 7-6 (3), 7-6 (2) to reach her first Grand Slam semifinal since the 2019 U.S. Open. The other semifinal is No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka against No. 13 Amanda Anisimova; they advanced with wins Tuesday.

Seven-time champion Novak Djokovic battled back from a sluggish start to overcome an inspired Alex de Minaur and reach the Wimbledon quarter-finals.

With longtime rival Roger Federer watching on from the Royal Box, Serbia’s Djokovic put in a error-strewn opener and had to fight back from 4-1 down in the fourth set to win 1-6 6-4 6-4 6-4.

The 38-year-old endured an uncomfortable three hours and 18 minutes on Centre Court against Australian 11th seed De Minaur but he is now within three wins of another piece of history.

Djokovic is bidding to equal Federer’s record of eight men’s singles titles at Wimbledon, as well as a standalone record 25th Grand Slam title.

He will face Italian 22nd seed Flavio Cobolli for a place in the semi-finals, where he could meet world number one Jannik Sinner.

More to follow.

PARIS — Top-ranked Jannik Sinner beat Novak Djokovic 6-4, 7-5, 7-6 (3) on Friday to set up a French Open final against defending champion Carlos Alcaraz.

Djokovic is the men’s record 24-time Grand Slam champion but could not counter Sinner’s relentless accuracy and pounding forehands on Court Philippe-Chatrier.

Sinner became only the second Italian man to reach the final at Roland-Garros after Adriano Panatta, the 1976 champion.

Earlier, Alcaraz led 4-6, 7-6 (3), 6-0, 2-0 against Lorenzo Musetti when the eighth-seeded Italian retired with a leg injury.

Sinner is aiming for his fourth major title, Alcaraz his fifth.

Djokovic fought back in the third set but wilted in the tiebreaker, somehow missing an easy smash at the net to trail 3-0 and then lost on the second match point he faced when his forehand hit the net.

“These are rare and special moments,” Sinner said. “I’m very happy.”

He extended his winning streak in Grand Slam tournaments to 20 matches, after winning the U.S. Open and the Australian Open.

Djokovic was bidding for a record-extending 38th Grand Slam final, and eighth in Paris, where he was won three times. But he spent much of the semifinal camped behind the baseline, sliding at full stretch and grunting loudly while Sinner sent him scurrying left and right like a windshield wiper.

A cross-court two-handed backhand winner from Sinner in the ninth game of the third set was executed with such pure timing that it drew applause even from Djokovic.

Sinner gave him almost no chances, but there was a glimmer of light in the 10th game, when Djokovic had four chances to break Sinner’s serve.

The crowd broke out into prolonged chants of “Nole! Nole!” as Djokovic forced two break points at 15-40.

Sinner saved both. Tensions were rising.

The crowd started self-policing when a couple of rowdy fans shouted out as Sinner prepared to serve, telling the offenders to “Chut!” (the French for shush).

Djokovic’s forehand landed wide on his third break-point chance making it deuce. The chair umpire Damien Dumusois came down to check the mark. Djokovic disagreed and walked over, saying “It’s on the line.” Then Sinner came to the net and had a brief discussion with Djokovic, who lost the point but won the next with an overhead smash for a fourth set point, saved again by Sinner.

In the first semifinal, Alcaraz acknowledged it was a tough way for Musetti to lose.

“It’s not great to win a match like this. Lorenzo is a great player,” Alcaraz said. “I wish him all the best, and wish him a quick recovery and hope to see him soon on the court.”

Musetti had treatment on the inside of his left thigh late in the third set and then again before the fourth.

He was 5-0 down after 16 minutes of the third set when he called for a trainer. Alcaraz broke Musetti in the next game to clinch the set in 21 minutes, winning 24 of 29 points.

Musetti was clearly hindered in his movements and called for the trainer again. After Alcaraz broke his serve to lead 2-0, Musetti walked slowly up to the net and received a hug from Alcaraz.

“I felt at the beginning of the third when I was serving, I start losing a little bit of strength on the left leg behind, and definitely was going worse and worse, so I decided to stop,” Musetti said. “I think was the right decision to make, even if it was not what I wanted. Tomorrow I will do exams.”

While age is clearly catching up on Djokovic, his insatiable appetite for Grand Slam success shows no signs of slowing down.

A patchy season by his lofty standards has led to questions about his stamina and motivation, while the departure of rival-turned-coach Andy Murray from his team also indicated things were not functioning as he hoped.

But when the major tournaments come around, Djokovic is always still primed to challenge in the latter stages.

In Melbourne, he defied the odds to beat Alcaraz and reach the semi-finals, although the physical exertions led to a hamstring tear which meant he had to retire injured against Zverev in the last-four encounter.

Nevertheless, it showed he still had the desire and capability to beat the younger generation over the five-set format.

“I think the win against Alcaraz and against Zverev tonight proves to myself and others that I can still play at the highest level,” Djokovic said.

“I just thrive on these occasions. This is where I lock in and really give my best.”

Zverev, 28, was once part of the first crop expected to replace Djokovic, Murray, Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer.

This defeat was another illustration of how the German is often unable to problem-solve against Djokovic, who won four of his eight break points.

Often accused of being too passive, Zverev was rooted deep behind the baseline for much of the contest and paid the price as Djokovic took control with his craftmanship.

With belief or focus rarely wavering, the Serb started dictating the patterns of play and used the drop shot effectively to unsettle Zverev.

When the three-time Grand Slam runner-up finally thought his chance of a comeback had arrived midway through the fourth set, he was denied in arguably the point of the tournament.

Djokovic showed all his elasticity and endurance to stop Zverev putting the set back on serve.

It enabled Djokovic to serve out victory after three hours and 17 minutes as another deft drop shot, fittingly, caught out Zverev again.

Coming into the French Open, Norrie said he had been playing some of his best tennis, describing his level as similar to when he was a top-10 player back in 2022.

It raised eyebrows – but he proved to be right.

A memorable five-set win over former world number one Medvedev set the tone, followed by victories against Argentine qualifier Federico Gomez and fellow Scot Jacob Fearnley, who replaced him as British number two earlier this year.

Facing Djokovic was a different proposition.

Norrie had lost all five of his previous meetings with the three-time French Open champion, including a three-set defeat in the Geneva Open 10 days ago.

He was quickly outmanoeuvred in the first set and, after Djokovic needed medical treatment on foot blisters, the British number three could not maintain an early break in the second.

Crucially, Norrie could not convert more chances, with Djokovic saving break points in lengthy service games at 2-2 and 3-3.

The former world number one then raced away with the final set, breaking early and reeling off five games in a row before serving out victory.

Despite not being able to end his miserable run against Djokovic, Norrie said it has been “a really enjoyable” clay-court swing.

Earlier this year he had been in danger of tumbling out of the world’s top 100 after a difficult couple of years struggling for form and fitness.

But a reinvigorated Norrie will now move back into the top 60 when he starts the grass-court season back in the UK.

“I played 20 clay-court matches, and for me that’s huge,” he said.

“The way for me to take confidence is playing and then actually getting through some tough matches.”

Novak Djokovic moved one win away from his 100th ATP Tour-level singles title with a hard-fought victory against Britain’s Cameron Norrie in the semi-finals at the Geneva Open.

Djokovic, who celebrated his 38th birthday on Thursday, is bidding to become just the third man in the Open era – after Jimmy Connors and Roger Federer – to win 100 ATP titles.

The 24-time Grand Slam champion took a step closer to that milestone with a resilient 6-4 6-7 (6-8) 6-1 win over Norrie.

Djokovic, who has not won a title since claiming Olympic gold in Paris last summer, will face Poland’s Hubert Hurkacz in Saturday’s final.

“It was the toughest match of tournament for me so far, for sure,” the world number six said in his on-court interview.

Playing in his first semi-final of the season, Norrie won just two points on Djokovic’s serve in the first set as the Serb raced through the opener.

It was the Briton, however, who took control in the second set, challenging Djokovic’s serve for the first time to move 4-1 in front.

A double fault by Djokovic at 5-2 brought up a set point for Norrie, but he missed his chance and allowed Djokovic to break back and level the set at 5-5.

The world number 90 redeemed himself in a cagey tie-break, saving a match point before an unforced error from Djokovic took the last-four tie to a deciding set.

Djokovic reasserted his dominance by grabbing the first three games of the third set – a gap that Norrie was unable to close as he was broken again to allow Djokovic to serve out the victory after two hours and 15 minutes.

“I’m really glad how I regrouped in the third and played the best set of the tournament,” added Djokovic, who is playing in his first event since splitting from coach Andy Murray.

“It means a lot [to reach the final]. So let’s go for a title.”

It has been a disappointing clay-court season for Djokovic, who suffered immediate exits in Madrid and Monte Carlo.

However, an ATP 250 title in Geneva could be the perfect confidence booster before the French Open, where he will be chasing a record-breaking 25th Grand Slam title.

Djokovic will face American Mackenzie McDonald in the first round at Roland Garros, which starts on Sunday.

Victory over Marton Fucsovics on Wednesday was Djokovic’s first win on clay since completing the career ‘Golden Slam’ at the Paris Olympics last summer.

He is now within two wins of achieving his 100th ATP Tour-level singles title – a feat only achieved by Jimmy Connors and Roger Federer in the Open era.

“Last year I played semi-finals. Hopefully this year I can go at least a step further – that’s the goal,” said Djokovic, who was presented with a birthday cake following his on-court interview.

“I think I am playing really good tennis. Today there was a lot of tension on the court.”

Avenging his loss to Arnaldi was another timely victory before his latest bid to win an outright record 25th Grand Slam title, with the French Open beginning on Sunday.

Punching the air and letting out an almighty roar in celebration, it was clear how much another victory before the year’s second slam meant to Djokovic after an inconsistent start to the year.

Immediate exits in Madrid and Monte Carlo following defeat in March’s Miami Open final had left Djokovic, in his own words, facing up to a “new reality” as he pushes to create more history in the twilight of his career.

He made a solid start against 39th-ranked Arnaldi, cruising through the first set after going an early break up, but the second set was more wayward.

Djokovic smashed his racquet after going 4-1 down and briefly appeared to feel some discomfort on the knee which required surgery last June.

However, he reset admirably after unleashing his frustration on his racquet.

He swiftly ripped the set from Arnaldi’s grasp, reeling off five games in a row to win in one hour and 40 minutes, before receiving his cake and being sung to by the crowd.

“After the racquet breaking I kind of found my optimal state and balance mentally and emotionally to be able to play my best tennis when it was most needed,” Djokovic added.

Andy Murray will no longer be working as Novak Djokovic’s coach.

The decision, said to be by mutual agreement, means Murray will not be by Djokovic’s side when he chases an eighth Wimbledon title in July.

Djokovic, a 24-time Grand Slam champion, joined forces with Murray in November.

Under Murray, the Serb reached the semi-finals of the Australian Open, ultimately retiring injured after losing the first set.

The 37-year-old has had a difficult season by his high standards, losing his first match in four of his past five tournaments, as well as being beaten in the Miami Open final by 19-year-old Jakub Mensik.

“Thank you, coach Andy, for all the hard work, fun and support over last six months on and off the court – really enjoyed deepening our friendship together,” Djokovic said.

“Thanks to Novak for the unbelievable opportunity to work together, and thanks to his team for all their hard work over the past six months,” Murray added.

“I wish Novak all the best for the rest of the season.”